Hello to everyone who has been following this blog for many years - I'm still blogging, I'm just moving over to https://www.claireheffer.com/blog - please continue to follow and let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been kind enough to visit over the years. May the lists continue...
Showing posts with label Jeff Goldblum. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Goldblum. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 July 2018

FILM 1799: JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM



FILM 1799: JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM

TRIVIA:Sam Neill was asked if he would return to the series as Dr. Alan Grant and responded, "You never say never, but I think it's moved on. It's different times."

During a recent visit to Entertainment Weekly Radio with costar Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt revealed that it was none other than the Spider-Man: Homecoming star who spoiled the entire plot of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom for him. The young actor spilled the beans while he and Pratt were working on the same lot shooting their respective Marvel projects. As for how he became privy to the top-secret details of the blockbuster franchise, Pratt shared that, "Tom, of course, knows [Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director] J.A. Bayona because of the film The Impossible -- Tom was the young guy in that movie." Soon after Bayona gave Holland a detailed account of the story line, he shared every detail with Pratt. "He told me the whole story, so I heard it right from Tom Holland first. And then when I read the script, I was like, Yeah, he wasn't messing with me, this is all real."

It's unclear how the Mosasaurus is still alive despite being trapped in an empty lagoon for years with nobody to feed it. Even the submersible operators lampshade how anything in the lagoon should have died a long time ago, but Colin Trevorrow explains the beginning of the film is set between a week or month after the first and argues that it could've ate the Indominus Rex slowly or picked off any pteranodon(s) that flew to close to the lagoon.

During a newscast, one of the chyrons on the bottom says "'President questions existence of dinosaurs in the first place'."

When Maisie Lockwood is attempting to hide from the Indoraptor she climbs into a dumb waiter (a lift found in many stately homes and mansions for transporting food and other items from the servant quarters) and tries to pull the door closed in a clear reference to Lex attempting to hide from the Raptors in the kitchen.

Colin Trevorrow pushed Michael Giacchino for an emotional score that would serve as the film's backbone, referring to it as "going to Dino Church." Giacchino found the evolving tone of Bayona's film to be an exciting challenge. "The film starts out like what you expect a Jurassic film to be, but it quickly evolves into a scary, tense, Gothic pool of craziness," said Giacchino. "I was heavily influenced by Bernard Herrmann growing up, and at the end of the film with the Gothic choir you feel like you're in an old horror film."

J.A. Bayona reveals that he had a trick up his sleeve on set to get the most out of his actors for that scene. In a new interview, he talked about the emotional scene from Jurassic World 2 and revealed why it has an even deeper meaning for fans of the Jurassic Park franchise. The Brachiosaurus is the very first dinosaur that was shown in the first Jurassic Park and then the last to be seen on the Isla of Nublar, which was no accident. Bayona reveals that the idea for the scene was planted 25 years ago. He explains. "That scene represents the ending of a dream that started 25 years ago. You are telling the ending of that island and the ending of that dream." While the Brachiosaurus scene was tough on moviegoers watching Jurassic World 2 in theaters, it was a challenge for J.A. Bayona to come up with a way to get the actors prepared for just how emotional the scene was. In order to get the right feel, the director pulled out a very familiar piece of music to play for the cast as they looked at a dot on a green screen. According to Bayona, the music had just the emotional impact that he desired from Chris Pratt and especially Bryce Dallas Howard. The director had this to say. "I played a very sweet and a little sad version of the Jurassic Park melody. So that was very effective for the actors, especially for Bryce. Being there, telling that story, listening to music from John Williams, they were all very emotional."

Rafe Spall was cast after being in The BFG (2016) which was directed by the executive producer of this film Steven Spielberg.

For Super Bowl LII (2018), Colin Trevorrow directed a Jeep commercial starring Jeff Goldblum and featuring a T. rex. Within 24 hours of its release, the commercial received 39.7 million online views, which was more than any film trailer that was watched online following its Super Bowl LII television debut.

A trio of Pteranodon flew off in the sunset mirrors exactly when Alan took glance on a trio of pelicans after escaping the island at the end of Jurassic Park (1993).

The Indoraptor has several themes relating to wolves: Being semi-quadrupedal, there is a somewhat lupine appearance to its posture and mannerisms. There is a discussion with Dr. Wu where he compares the domestication of dinosaurs with that of dogs. The Indoraptor, being feral and untamable, is the "wolf" of this scenario, which they are planning to breed out their aggression and lack of empathy to make them "dogs". The Indoraptor menaces a little girl, which recalls the Big Bad Wolf of fairy tales, Maisie wearing a red jacket. And of course the scene where it roars/howls at the full moon from the rooftop of Lockwood Manor, and a callback to Jurassic World (2015) when Hoskins told a story of keeping a wolf cub which eventually mauled his wife? Lockwood's vision comes to fruition in this movie, and again, the "wolf" cannot be tamed.

Tom Holland was terrified of the movie, J.A. Bayona explained, "I invited his whole family to a screening, I was sitting with him and it was so much fun to see how he was reacting to the movie, in the emotional moments he was just like, 'No!' and then jumping- he had alot of fun, but the one shot that really got him was the Indoraptor clawing Maisies ponytail through the cage, that is the shot that Tom like shit on his pants!"

J.A. Bayona wanted the Indoraptor to be black, with oily snakeskin, so that it felt like a deadly shadow. Early on in production, he showed the special effects crew a picture of a shell-shocked soldier during World War I, the haunting image of a man with the craziest eyes you'd ever seen he wanted those eyes on the Indo. 

The beach that Owen and Claire and Franklin wash up on after the gyrosphere sequence was the same one from From Here to Eternity (1953) J.A. Bayona stated "I said, 'OK we need to do the same shot, the famous kiss shot of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, so we did the same with Owen and Claire, without kissing each other." 


Monday, 9 July 2018

FILM 1795: THOR: RAGNAROK



FILM 1795: THOR: RAGNAROK

TRIVIA: Sir Anthony Hopkins had decided against returning as Odin, but upon reading the story, he changed his mind.

Thor's "friend from work" line about the Hulk was suggested to Chris Hemsworth by a Make-A-Wish child who paid a visit to the set on the day the scene was filmed.

Taika Waititi based Korg's character on Polynesian bouncers: "We wanted to change the idea of what a hulking guy made of rocks could be. He's huge and heavy, but with a light soul, and he's funny and friendly."

This marks the first time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that The Hulk is not voiced by Lou Ferrigno, but by Mark Ruffalo. Ferrigno voiced Hulk in The Incredible Hulk (2008), Avengers Assemble (2012) and Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Taika Waititi appears in this film as Korg. Waititi is the second Marvel film Director to have a major role in his own film, after Jon Favreau (who directed the first two Iron Man films, and appeared as "Happy" Hogan in the Marvel Cinematic Universe).

Chris Hemsworth plays Thor in the film, while his older brother Luke Hemsworth plays Thor in a play within the film. Their younger sibling Liam Hemsworth was considered for the role of Thor.

Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" appears in the film, and the trailer. This is noteworthy, because Led Zeppelin is known for very rarely licensing out their music for use in feature films, television series, or video games. The majority of other films that have had Led Zeppelin music are related to rock journalist Cameron Crowe (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Almost Famous), making this one of the few films to feature Zeppelin music that in no way involves Crowe. School of Rock is another.

Taika Waititi described the film as a "1970s and 80s science fiction fantasy, the most 'out there' of all the Marvel movies." He cited Big Trouble in Little China (1986) as a major influence on the film: "It's a fun adventure film that has big stakes, but also has a breakneck speed and takes you on a crazy adventure."

In the comics, the Grandmaster has blue skin. Taika Waititi decided against applying blue on Jeff Goldblum, because he felt Goldblum was a good enough actor to not need it, and because Goldblum had already played a blue-colored character in Earth Girls Are Easy(1988).

The retirement home in New York City is named "Shady Acres", the same name as the retirement home where Stan Marsh's grandfather lives in South Park (1997), and the same as the psychiatric institute in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), which was a play on that film's director Tom Shadyac.

CAMEO: Stan Lee: comic-book writer who co-created Thor and the Hulk, appears as the barber who cuts Thor's hair.